The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2015, and October 31, 2016 (see FAQ for exceptions), are automatically nominated for the 2016 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on November 3, 2016, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

In 2003, amid boom times in Ireland, three teenagers spend the
summer high on everything but life in this intense, at times nightmarish,
debut.

Kearney daydreams of sick bloody mayhem, while bookish Rez sees
through every facade to the pointlessness behind. Matthew is desperate for a
girlfriend and destined to flop. They’re friends who have spent their last
school year before college or work making trouble and getting themselves barred
from their graduation ceremony. Jobless yet clearly riding the Celtic Tiger,
they always have money to finance the “inevitable” idea of getting wasted. Day
and night they drink and smoke pot or hash in truly striking quantities, with
occasional detours for cocaine or Ecstasy. Vomit and most other bodily emissions
are never far away, either from the main characters or any one of the junkies,
drunkards, and street people strewn about Dublin’s fair city. While there are
many darkly comic moments—a
junkie’s volume of poetry is called “Molesting Your Inner Child”—the book isn’t for the
squeamish, especially with regard to Kearney’s more extreme fantasies and three
sickening deaths. The young men’s mischief takes an inevitable uglier turn when
Kearney’s beating of a junkie leads to worse. Doyle’s take on the angst and
awkward bonding of young males is strong enough that it highlights how
little he has on the female side, essentially one solid but unexplored
character. Still, he skillfully stokes suspense amid considerable repetition
and makes these nasty slackers occasionally even elicit sympathy. He also makes
sure they’re not stupid, which highlights the fact that their choices are. For
many parents this could be an eye-opening, admonitory read—if they aren’t as
unbelievably blind as the parents in the book.

Rough in its language, physical violence, and reminders of
youth’s potential for anything, the book joins a respectable literary line
dating back to A Clockwork Orange, if not Tom Jones and Vanity
Fair.

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